


the garden of atonement

by aetherae



Category: Kara no Kyoukai | The Garden of Sinners
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 06:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2722052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherae/pseuds/aetherae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mana meets a lot of people, learns a lot of things. In the end, it’s just another day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the garden of atonement

**Author's Note:**

> 2 YEARS. LITERALLY 3 DAYS AWAY FROM BEING 2 YEARS TO THE EXACT DAY. THIS IS THE WORST I’VE EVER TAKEN ON A FANFIC EVER.

**1 – overlooking view.**

“Mitsuru-san, have you ever thought about flying?”

It’s another hot, monotonous summer day inside the office, but Mitsuru looked up from his own work—or meaningless distraction, to be precise—to give his charge a flat stare, looking more confused than curious about her question.

“Not in particular,” he replied, idly gazing out the window just in time to see a few birds pass by. “You can just hop on a plane if you really want to fly.”

Mana waved an indignant hand in his direction. “No, not like that kind of flying, but just flying on your own. You can’t tell me you’ve never stood somewhere really high up and thought to yourself, ‘What would it be like if I fell through the air from here?’!”

“I think the word you’re looking for is falling then.” Though if he had to think about it, there probably was once or twice such a thought occurred to him, but only after he lost his path to the future.

“Papa told me before that flying and falling are always tied together. I guess you can’t really have one without the other.” She walked up to the desk he sat at, peering over at him with a smile. “Mitsuru-san, if you had to choose, which would you say you’re doing right now? Flying or falling?”

He remained silent as he mulled over it. If he had to pick, he’d say that he had already fallen over a long time ago. But had he reached flying yet? Hmm…

“Rather than those two, I’d say that I’m floating.”

“Then Mitsuru-san, you should strive to reach the point where you start flying instead,” was Mana’s cheerful reply, and with a smile like that, it was hard to disagree.

 

**2 – murder speculation i.**

“Mana.” It was just one word, two syllables, but the tone of voice and glare alone were enough to tell Mana that she was in trouble with Mother. She was in for a scolding… But as she spotted Papa from the corner of her eye giving a sheepish smile, and idea came to mind.

“B-Before that Mother, there’s something important I need to tell you!”

Shiki raised a single eyebrow in vague amusement. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

If this didn’t work, Mana was going to need to talk to her papa again… Without further prompting though, Mana began to sing. It was a simple melody, and the words were a little hard to pronounce, but she remembered what Papa had said about this song before.

“I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain,” she sang, seeing Papa give her a single thumbs-up as she continued, “What a glorious feeling, I am happy again…”

Sure enough, her mother’s stern glare slowly melted into vague surprise before finally settling into quiet amusement, a small smile on her face. When Mana finished, Shiki gave her a pat on the head.

“Heh, how nice. And just where did you learn that song?”

At that moment, the person in question seemed to duck out of immediate sight. Mana laughed before replying, “Papa taught it to me. He said that if you were ever mad at me, singing it might make you not mad.”

“Your papa can be a little tricky when he wants to…” She trailed off, but the small smile had yet to leave her face. “Alright, I’ll let it go this time. Don’t think it’ll work every time though.”

“Yes, Mother,” she said with a laugh, and after a quick hug for her, Mana was out the door to tell her papa the results.

 

**3 – remaining sense of pain.**

With an awkward “oof!” Mana tumbled to the ground, hair flying everywhere and a loud clatter from what she could only guess was the walking stick the lady she had crashed into was using. Luckily, the person she had bumped into hadn’t fallen over as well, but when she opened her eyes she saw her kneeling on the ground, slow reaching out for her walking stick.

She scrambled to collect herself, handing the lady the walking stick. “I’m really very sorry for that! I was in a rush, but I wasn’t looking where I was going and—”

“It’s fine, please don’t worry. Thank you for getting this for me.” The way the woman carried herself as she stood back up was filled with a quiet grace and poise, and the smile she gave her was nothing less than kind. Mana was nearly spellbound by her beauty. “Rather than that, you’re not hurt, are you?”

“Oh, no, I’m alright, really!” After dusting her skirt off, Mana stood up as well, only to flinch at a pressure on her right ankle; taking a better look, it seemed that she had gotten a scrape there during the fall.

Without a word, the woman placed a gentle hand on Mana’s head, still smiling kindly all the while. “Are you sure? Pain is something you have to talk about.”

Mana tilted her head, a small laugh escaping her lips. “That sounds like something Papa would say. Are you very familiar with pain, ma’am?”

She looked surprised for a moment, closing her eyes as she nodded at Mana’s question. Somehow, it seemed like she was still in pain.

“Yes, I am. But you know,” she said, eyes opening as she smiled just a touch wider, “that’s why you have to talk about it. If it hurts, you should say so.”

She nodded in response, and Mana wondered what this lady’s pain was. Whatever it was, she hoped that it would heal someday.

 

**4 – void shrine.**

Despite all his attempts to get his daughter to come along peacefully, Mikiya had never been able to take Mana to the hospital without a fuss. It was only a standard checkup, but she frowned and sighed every single time. On that rainy morning, she’d even gone running to Shiki, saying that Mother was lucky to never have to go to the gross hospital. Even though, thankfully, Mana had never been seriously wounded, he had to wonder if she inherited her dislike of the hospital from her mother.

For all her trouble though, his wife only gave their daughter a pat on the head, laughing, “There’s no such thing as luck in this world. If you don’t want to go, try convincing your papa.”

So there they were, sitting on the chairs as they waited for the doctor to call her name. Mana had her feet tucked under her legs as she kicked her feet, and he started humming a familiar tune to pass the time.

“Papa, you really like singing that song,” Mana said in what he was sure was her own plan to pass time, “how come you like it so much?”

He looked up, scratching his chin awkwardly. “To put it simply, I like it because your mother likes it.”

His daughter stared up at him, the slight exasperation evident in her blue eyes. It was a familiar sight frankly, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“See? I told you that you wouldn’t like it.”

“But Papa, there has to be more than that! I can’t believe that you’d sing the exact same song for years just because Mother likes it,” she complained, pouting.

“Hmm… Alright then.” He held up a finger to his lips, smiling. “You have to promise not to tell your mother about this though. I’m sure she’d laugh if she found out about it, so I’d rather she not know. Do we have a deal?”

She nodded eagerly, practically jumping in her seat. Somehow, he felt like he was the one getting himself into trouble now.

“Mm, then I’m trusting you with this. It was a very long time ago, back when your mother and I were still in school.” He smiled wider as he thought back. It felt like a lifetime ago now, and the fact that so much had happened that he could even think that warmed his heart. “I was humming that song while your mother was nearby, and I just got the feeling she was smiling at it… Although to be honest, I don’t have any proof of it. You know how your mother doesn’t smile much, right? It was even worse back then.”

“Well… It’s true that Mother doesn’t smile a lot,” Mana began, tapping her finger on her chin. “But she smiles a lot around me!”

The doctor finally called for her, and the two stood up, but not before he patted her on the head again.

“She didn’t smile a lot back then because she didn’t have a lot to smile for. Things are different now, that’s all.”

 

**5 – paradox spiral.**

While it was probably the most embarrassing mistake Touko had made in a long while, for Mana it was nothing less than the miraculous opportunity she had been waiting for.

Nevertheless, the bright-eyed, beaming look Shiki’s daughter gave her did not help reassure Touko in the slightest once she realized who she had run into. She had to wonder if there was something special in the Kokutou blood after all though; first with Azaka actually catching her and even helping her out with a case, then Mikiya finding her shop despite everything, and now this… It was certainly a wonder at least.

"I knew it, I just knew it! Now with this, I’m one step closer to being on equal grounds with Mother." The little girl nodded to herself, confident with whatever sort of plan she seemingly had. "My own role in the strange and supernatural must be coming up!"

Shaking off some ash from her cigarette, Touko casually replied. “Now, now, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? I’ll congratulate you for having caught me slipping up, it’s true, but expecting anything more than this will just land you in disappointment, Mana-chan.”

"What? No way! See, you even know my name despite us having no previous encounter with each other; that’s the sort of thing you only see from a sorcerer, right?" Her excitement was charming in its own way, but Touko had to snort at that.

"Sorcerer? Now you’re just giving me too much credit. Azaka is your aunt, isn’t she? You should at least know what a magus is then. If you have to call me anything, just call me that."

Puzzled by the distinction between the two, Mana frowned in concentration, but the look quickly passed as her eagerness returned. “Well, then what’s the difference between the two? Aunt Azaka only mentioned it in passing once, and even then she doesn’t tell me much about it. You could tell me more about it instead, right?”

Touko smoked silently, blowing out smoke as she thought. She left town for a number of reasons, but letting Mikiya and Shiki live a normal life was one of them, wasn’t it? If she told Mana about this side of the world, that might be making that earlier desire null and void.

… well, why not though. She had some time to kill, and one simple story wouldn’t hurt.

"Alright, I’ll tell you a bit about it, but on one condition," she laughed, grinning all the while. "Make sure not to mention this to your parents, alright? Think of it like our small secret."

Mana nodded eagerly, running up to the apparent magus before her. It was still early in the afternoon, the sun high in the sky. As far as anyone else was concerned, it was a perfect day to spend time telling a story.

 

**6 – oblivion recorder.**

“So you still really told Papa about how you felt, Aunt Azaka?”

“Of course!” The pride Mana’s aunt had in admitting her incestuous feelings for Papa would have been strange to anyone else, but she had long since gotten used to it. As far as she could tell, she could relate anyways. “And it’s not past tense, Mana-chan; I still love Mikiya as much as I did when I confessed, if not even more.”

Mana frowned in thought. “But is that really alright? Does it make things weird?”

Her aunt shook her head, giving a wink before she spoke. “If truth be told, my love being completely unrequited makes me even happier; you know how I like special things. As long as I can love him, I’ll be happy.”

“Hmm, I see… Don’t worry Aunt Azaka, I’ll get revenge for you! I’ll beat Mother one day, and then I’ll have Papa for myself.”

“Oh, is that so? Then I’ll be counting on you to beat Shiki for me, Mana-chan!” Though the consoling pat she gave to Mana told enough already; their types of feelings weren’t the same, and Azaka was aware enough to know that that was likely for the best. Anything more would make things even more complicated for her dear brother.

But that was when Mana seemed to remember something, and she turned to her aunt with a questioning look. “That reminds me though, Aunt Azaka—did you ever remember the memory where you fell in love with Papa?”

A loud groan made its way past Azaka’s lips, and she sunk down far enough to let her head hit the wall with a defeated thunk. Mana had asked this question a number of times over the years, but the answer had yet to change.

“No. At this point, it’s starting to feel like I memory I shouldn’t remember.”

“I wonder how you forgot it in the first place though.” She looked up at the ceiling in thought, confused. “Memories seem like tricky business.”

At that, Azaka laughed, a small smirk forming all the while. “Oh, Mana-chan, you have _no_ idea.”

 

**7 – murder speculation ii.**

“Mother, you’ve collected knives and such for a long time, right?”

“That’s right,” Shiki replied, closely examining a new knife that just came in—an antique butterfly knife that dated at least a century back, the blade still kept in impeccable condition. Her general distaste of modern technology had never really changed, but even she could admit that worldwide shipping made things rather convenient.

Mana came closer, peering at the knife curiously. “And do you still use any of those knives?”

Carefully, Shiki closed the knife and set it down, storing it away for her to display later. “Not anymore.”

“Why is that?” Mana knew bits and pieces of what her mother and papa did before she was born, and the scary stories never really bothered her. If anything, they only made her more excited, and this was a story that she was still piecing together. “Did you get bored of using them?”

For a long while, Shiki didn’t answer, merely looking at Mana with a soft expression Mana still wasn’t sure about the meaning of. Finally, she held out her hand.

“Mana, give me your hand for a second.”

Silently, Mana nodded and complied, slowly placing her hand in her mother’s outstretched one. Shiki then gently wrapped her fingers around it, one by one until she was completely holding Mana’s hand. While Mana stared at the act in quiet curiosity, Shiki finally looked back up at her, smiling.

“As long as I have your hand and your papa’s hand in mine, I don’t need to hold anything else.”

Mana wrapped her fingers around her mother’s hand as well, beaming. “That’s good! I think our hands suit Mother better than a knife anyways.”

“You know,” Shiki said, holding her daughter’s hand tightly, “I think you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> why isn't there an "8 - future gospel." section? because 8's already about mana anyways.


End file.
